Above: Nutella hazel nut spread and Mara Natural all natural dark chocolate almond spread.
Yesterday, my daughter and I made a trip to our local Super Walmart. While she was picking out art supplies, I decided to pick up a few groceries. I was looking for a jar of Mara Natha's all natural, no stir almond butter but I could only find the crunchy variety, not the smooth. Much to my delight, I spotted a jar of their all natural dark chocolate almond spread. OMG alert!
It looked like it might be similar to Nutella, so I scooped up a jar and added it to my shopping cart. Nutella is a hazelnut spread mixed with skim milk and cocoa powder. We had a jar of Nutella in the pantry, for our daughter, and I tried a bit to see what it tasted like. It was WAY too sweet for my taste, too much sugar and not enough hazelnut flavor.
The Mara Natha spread on the other hand, had a rich almond butter taste enhanced by dark chocolate. I decided to read the nutritional labels to see why they are so different. Dry roasted almonds are the first ingredient listed in the dark chocolate almond spread whereas sugar is the first ingredient listed in Nutella. That would explain why Nutella has a much sweeter taste, than the almond spread, which had a much richer, nuttier taste.
Above: Jar of Nutella
Nutella Nutritional Facts
Nutella is a very creamy, smooth and very sweet tasting spread. It has the consistency of soft frosting, and is almost runny enough to be used as a dessert topping.
- serving size - 2 tablespoons
- calories per serving - 200
- fat calories per serving - 100
- total fat - 11 g
- saturated fat - 3.5 g
- sodium - 15 mg
- carbs - 22 g
- fiber - 1 g
- sugars - 21 g
- protein - 3 g
Nutella Ingredients
- sugar
- palm oil
- hazelnuts
- cocoa
- skim milk
- reduced minerals whey
- lecithin
- vanillin
Above: Mara Natha all natural dark chocolate almond spread.
Dark Chocolate Almond Spread Nutritional Facts
The dark chocolate almond spread has a rich nutty flavor, with a hint of chocolate. It has the consistency of a very thick peanut butter, or very thick frosting. It is not as smooth as the Nutella, due to it's higher nut content.
- serving size - 2 tablespoons
- calories per serving - 180
- fat calories per serving - 130
- total fat - 14 g
- saturated fat - 3 g
- sodium - 15 mg
- carbohydrate - 12 g
- dietary fiber - 2 g
- sugars - 9 g
- protein - 4 g
Dark Chocolate Almond Spread Ingredients
- dry roasted almonds
- evaporated cane juice
- palm oil
- cocoa powder
- non-fat dry milk
- canola oil
- soy lecithin
- natural vanilla flavor
- salt
Above: dark chocolate almond spread on the left, Nutella on the right.
Cuisine Diva Conclusion
I prefer richer tasting food over sweet food any day of the week. So my vote goes for Mara Natha All Natural Dark Chocolate Almond Spread.The almond spread has a bit more fiber and protein per serving compared to Nutella. And the almond spread has only 9 grams of sugar per serving compared to Nutella's 21 grams of sugar per serving. Yes, I think I got a sugar shocker headache eating the Nutella, kind of like getting a brain freeze when you eat something too cold, but in this case it was from eating something too sweet.
The Nutella has almost double the amount of carbohydrates per serving compared to the almond spread. Nutella also has higher total calories than the almond spread. But due to it's higher nut content, the almond spread has a slightly higher fat content. But nut butters are a healthy type of fat, and can be part of a balanced diet that contains up to 30% of it's calories from good fats.
See my Sports Nutrition Diva blog post on good vs bad fats: Fat is Not Your Enemy.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva
